that's it for us. thanks for watching. "erly start" begins now. it's no sideshow. high stakes as the two candidates for vice president get ready to take the stage for tonight's debate. we'll take you inside. against all odds. rescuers on the scene of a deadly parking garage collapse. they find a man alive amid the rubble. october excitement. not one, but two fantastic finishes have baseball fans buzzing from new york to california. i think this is worldwide.

>> i cannot believe these results. i saw them as soon as i woke up. eye-popping finishes, the two games. good morning. welcome to "erly start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> if you think baseball is exciting, get ready for politics. it's game down. we're counting down to tonight's one and only vice presidential debate between joe biden and paul ryan. the stakes are high. probably higher than either campaign wants to admit. biden will try to create some momentum for the obama team while ryan will try to prove last week's debate was not a one and done. a small post debate rise for romney, where in virginia romney picked up three points. he leads there, though a doifrnt poll from cbs shows obama still leading there. the "wall street journal" poll, mitt romney trails in florida and is down six in ohio.

a quinnipiac poll shows him up three points in three other states. cnn's paul steinhauser is at the site in danville, kentucky with an inside look. >> reporter: 14 hours from now behind me on this stage, the only vice presidential debate in the campaign. they've been behind closed doors getting ready for this big showdown. the republican running mate got here to kentucky yesterday. before he arrived, he played a little bit of the expectations game, kind of lowering the bar for himself. >> joe biden has been on this stage many times before. it's my first time. sure it's a nervous situation because joe biden is one of the most experienced debaters we have in modern politics. >> as for vice president joe biden, he gets here later today. how is it going to work? to tell us. frank farencoff.

>> it will be similar to the start of the colorado debate except that these two will be seated at a table. the vice president will be on the left. the congressman will be on the right. by flip of a coin -- we're very scientific in these things, the first question will be addressed to vice president biden. he'll have two minutes to respond. then mr. ryan will have two minutes to respond. then martha rad dist moderator will have the ability to drill down and get the exchange going. >> frank, thank you very much. i think it's fair to say there was a lot at stake even before last week's debate. but because of the president's lackluster performance, there's even more at stake. i think the romney campaign would like to see that continue. as for the obama campaign, they'd like to see the trend end. that's why there's so much at

stake for this debate. in his first interview since the lackluster performance, president obama is giving advice to his running mate for tonight. he said joe just needs to be joe. as for his own performance, the president acknowledges it was less than stellar. here is how he explained it to abc's diane sawyer. >> well, governor romney had a good night. i had a bad night. >> how bad? >> well, it's not the first time i've had a bad night. but i think what's important is the fundamentals of what this race is about haven't changed. >> that interview was done just a few hours after the president came up with another explanation in his poor debate performance in this radio interview with tom joyner. >> the debate, i think it's fair to say, i was too polite.

it's hard to keep on saying what you're say isn't true. it gets repetitive. the good news is that that's just the first one. >> the head of the republican national committee is not buying the president's explanation that he had a bad night or was too polite. on piers morgan last night he suggested the president's own record doomed him. >> i think his message is pretty weak. he doesn't have a lot to stand on. it's tough to pull off. instead he's talking about big bird and calling his opponent liar, liar, pants on fire. that's the new barack obama for 2012 for america. >> no doubt. there is a lot at stake when ryan and biden square off. at the bottom of the hour, anna navarro and richard sock receipt tease, former adviser to president bill clinton. >> stay with cnn for complete coverage of the debates at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and on

cnn.com. a man who was trapped under a huge slab of concrete for 13 hours was pulled from the rubble alive. this is early this morning, folks. >> amazing. >> this is the site of a parking garage collapse in doral, florida, that left three workers dead. the five-story garage was under construction when it gave way. miami-dade fire rescue says eight others were taken to area hospitals for treatment. as the death toll in the fungal meningitis outbreak rises, at least two lawmakers are pushing bills to strengthen rules against pharmacies including necc. at least 137 infected in 11 states, the hardest hit, tennessee, michigan and virginia. former teammates are turning on cycling great lance armstrong. in a just-released report by the u.s. anti-doping agency,

ex-members of armstrong's team talked about the ways the seven-time winner beat the drug testing using blood transfusions, saline injections, back dated prescriptions and tip-offs to tests. the agency saying armstrong and teammates engaged in the most successful and sophisticated doping program the sport has ever seen. armstrong's attorney insists this is a witch hunt. >> i'm not suggesting that they are all lying, but i am suggesting that each witness needs to have confrontation and cross examination to test the accuracy of their recollection. >> the anti-doping agency's report says armstrong and his team benefited from privileged inside information and found out ahead of time when the tests would be perform. not one, but two fantastic

finishes. first raul ibanez a walk-off to beat orioles 3-2. three innings before ibanez hit one to tie the game and he did it pinch hitting for alex rodriguez. you heard that right. he pinch hit for alex rodriguez. the yanks lead two games to one. game four tonight. meantime the oakland a's finishing examination. that got a walk-off hit from coco crisp to beat the tigers. they were on the verge of elimination. the win forces a fifth and deciding game in the series tonight in oakland. they were going nuts in the bay area last night. >> go oakland! love that. ahead on "early start" trying to find out once and for all what happened. >> it was a terrorist attack. let's be honest about it. >> a tense hearing on capitol hill about the attack that

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now to the house hearings on the terror attack that took the life of u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. for the better part of four hours, republicans questioned the motives of the white house and slammed the administration for the lack of security at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. democrats called on house republicans for cutting funding and politicizing a tragedy. >> i'm fascinated to know and understand from the president of united states, from the secretary of state and the ambassador to the united nations how they can justify that this video caused this attack. it was a terrorist attack. let's be honest about it. >> i certainly hope today's hearing is not going to be perceived as an effort to exploit a tragedy for political

purposes 27 days out from an election. >> cnn foreign affairs reporter elise lav vitt joins us live from washington. elise, where do we go from here? >> good question, john. yesterday was something i haven't seen in my 12 years of the state department. this hearing really became politicized and a lot of people talking at the state department were upset that ambassador stephens death. there were a lot of important issues that came up at the hearing yesterday. chief among them, whether the consulate was adequately protected. let's take a listen to what the chairman, daniel issa said yesterday in response to state department claims that the consulate had an adequate amount of guards. let's take a listen. >> to start off by saying you had the correct number, and our ambassador and three other

individuals dead and people in the hospital recovering because it only took moments to breach that facility somehow doesn't seem to ring true to the american people. >> so, john, of course, the state department saying, listen, even if we had extra guards, and, in fact, some of the security officers that were testifying yesterday saying listen, not necessarily sure the same amount of guards would not be adequate because this was a fire fight of about 40 armed men, something that was unprecedented in diplomatic history. but take a listen to what eric nordstrom, the top security officer in libya talked about when there was discussion about whether there were enough resources at the state department. he was very frustrated that when he would ask for additional resources, he was criticized. take a listen to this exchange with representative jason

chaifetz. >> you were asking for more assets, more resources, more personnel. that was denied. the state department went back and reclassified it as more dangerous. they didn't tell you we didn't have resources, that congress just cut your budget. they gave you an increase because the danger was rising, correct? >> that's correct. we received a danger pay increase. >> john, a lot of important issues there yesterday. but the politicizing of it kind of hit the fact that there were important issues that needed to be addressed. >> it was hard to hear anything in between all the politics. elise, thank you very much. it's 15 minutes past the hour. here is christine romans with this morning's top stories. >> 26 days now until the election. are you counting down? the next big presidential event is on tap tonight. joe biden and paul ryan will square off in the first and only vice presidential debate. biden is expected to come out swinging as he tries to make america forget about president

obama's forgettable debate performance against mitt romney last week. cnn's coverage of the debate begins tonight at 7:00 eastern on cn nfrnl and cnn.com. a military appears court will hear argument this afternoon before deciding whether to force major nadal hussein to shave his beard. lawyers for the ft. hood massacre suspect want the judge removed claiming the judge overstepped his authorities by issuing this order to shave him. an austrian sky diver felix baumgartner has to wait until sunday for his sky dive. the strong winds have kept him from making that jump. he'll make the jump from a capsule attached to a high altitude balloon. >> can't wait. >> i'm so scared for him. time for early reads, your

local news making national headlines. first we're up dating you on a story we brought you last week. >> it's a doozy. >> in the philly inquirer. a high school student who was belittled by a teacher for wearing a mitt romney campaign t-shirt to school says she is now going to transfer out of the school. veterans and students held a rally for 16-year-old samantha paw luis si tuesday. she still decided she is not going back. samantha said the teacher ridiculed her and called in other staffers to laugh at her and apparently even said -- it says, if she who is black wore a ku klux klan shirt. the teacher was temporarily resigned and wrote an apology letter. the tampa bay times. ricky, you should lose that number. florida governor rick scott

accidentally gave out the phone number to a phone sex line instead of the 24-hour department hotline. the governor's spokesman says the two numbers were mixed up in his briefing report. the governor corrected himself 30 minutes later and said it was an honest mistake. >> i want to know how that came up. apparently some numbers switched there. for an expanded look, head to cnn come/earlystart. coming up, mitt romney's plan for medicare. three critical questions still unanswered. we'll take a closer look. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have six grams of sugars. with fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight.

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we're "minding your business" this morning. the vice presidential debate is tonight. medicare is bound to come up. while the president's health care law has a specific plan for the entitlement, there is still a big question about governor mitt romney's plan. >> christina is breaking down what we do know and what we don't know. >> we'll hear a lot about this. governor romney's plan is unclear on three issues to the 47 million people on medicare and the rest of us who may rely on it. the number of people on medicare is expected to jump to $62 million by 2020. the first unclear point of romney's plan, the cost to seniors. this only applies to future retirees although he hasn't

given a specific age. for future retirees, his plans offers two options, a premium support system, a voucher for each senior to buy private insurance. the other option is to stay in traditional medicare. what we don't know is whether the voucher will be enough to cover the cost. the romney campaign has not clarified that yet. second, the prescription drug plan. romney says older americans have nothing to worry about. >> neither the president nor i are proposing any changes for any current retirees or near retirees, either to social security or medicare. >> but there is one big thing he says will change. >> if i'm elected, we won't have obama care. >> obama care or the affordable care act saved seniors $643 on

average. the president says that would disappear. >> what happens is those seniors would pay over $600 more in prescription care. >> romney has yet to give specifics. romney hasn't said if he'll put a cap on spending. experts say a cap is needed to keep cost increases under control. bipartisan groups like the congressional budget office, they won't give romney's medicare plan a score without knowing if there's a medicare spending cap. romney's running mate, paul ryan's own budget says a plan he proposed in congress does include a medicare spending cap but romney isn't aligning himself completely. we'll see if that comes up tonight. you can expect the questions will be asked. >> i would not expect answers. extreme political advantage and a lack of specificity and mitt romney is showing that advantage. saved along the shore.

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last-minute cramming in kentucky. jooid and paul ryan getting ready for their own and only debate tonight. we're breaking down what to expect. end of story. why mitt romney won't be talking about his brief encounter with a navy s.e.a.l. killed in libya. personal foul. roughing a child. a youth coach facing more than a penalty this morning.

welcome back to "rly start," i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. 28 minutes past the hour. the hours are ticking away until the one and only vice presidential debate of 2012. inside that auditorium in danville, kentucky, vice president joe biden will meet his republican rival, paul ryan. the debate taking on new significance after what was seen as a lopsided victory for mitt romney in the first debate. the president admitting that he had a, quote, bad night. brand new poll numbers showing a small bounce for romney, the governor ahead by a point in virginia. this is according to the nbc "wall street journal" mayor rift poll, although a new quinnipiac poll shows obama up by five. obama leads in florida, but romney gained a point there. while romney gained a point in ohio, president obama is up by six there. there's a lot to talk about this

morning. we have richard sock receipt tease, democratic analyst and adviser to former president bill clinton. >> good morning. >> it's nice to have you in studio. >> good to get us both together. >> i know anna loves joe biden, so she's looking forward to tonight. >> i actually do. >> i know you do. >> let me start with some questions before you guys actually jump in. there's a lot of pressure tonight after president obama's lackluster performance on the debates. here is how "snl" put it. >> is there anything more exciting than joe biden thinking it's up to him to get the lead back? it's tivo time. >> so if biden does not do well tonight, is it damaging to the campaign, richard? >> i think he needs to do well for the important reason that the momentum is clearly with governor romney now after the debate he had with president obama. so i think joe biden could do

something really good for his boss and for us democrats, and that is try and stop the momentum that governor romney has. if he doesn't, it's going to be a problem, because there's another week to go before president obama has a shot at it himself. >> anna, president obama talked about the vice presidential debate with abc. let's listen. >> i think joe just needs to be joe. congressman ryan is a smart and effective speaker but his ideas are the wrong ones and joe understands that. >> joe just needs to be joe. is that a good game plan? >> i hope so. i hope joe is joe. if joe is joe, we'll end up getting gaffs, we'll end up getting jokes, we'll end up getting emotion, some maybe off-color remarks. some things that will need to be explained. we certainly will get more

zingers. i'm expecting a more entertaining debate than the tirs debate between romney and president obama. but it is incredibly important, first of all, because people are watching. i don't remember ever this kind of anticipation -- >> well, sarah palin. people did watch sarah palin. >> second of all, there's no do-over. president obama gets two more shots at the apple, as does mitt romney. this is it for joe biden. they are expecting -- folks are expecting a very good joe biden. this is a very seasoned politician. in truth, both of them are, two very different guys. both are very well regarded veterans in congress. >> are you concerned, richard, about joe being joe? >> i'm not really. i think there's a lot of authenticity about him. i think people make fun of the so-called gaffs, but i really think it's him being authentic. >> in case hadn't heard it, i want to play one of those. we want to play one of those

gaffs for folks. >> see, you can't find any. >> we have them. i have four of them but can't play them. >> i can recite some by memory. >> can i tell you, though, i think when he does say something that seems a little off key, it's really him being authentic. i think people like the fact that he speaks his mind. >> i'll recite it for youchlt how can they justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been buried for the last four years. that got a lot of play, right, because it was considered a gaff. >> i think it's true. i think what he was saying is it's a truism, you can't ralz taxes on the middle class. effectively, if governor romney lowers taxes on the rich, essentially, no matter what moderate mitt says, no matter what moderate mitt says, if you lower taxes on the wealthy -- you can't lower taxes on everybody and generate the same amount of revenue.

somebody has to pay more. >> we think abortion may come up. what paul ryan said when he was asked about abortion, he said i'm sure you'll find out in these debates. so let's backtrack a little bit here and let's play what mitt romney said about abortion. >> do you intend to pursue any legislation specifically regarding abortion? >> there's no legislation with regards with abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. >> that was tuesday, mitt romney in an interview with the des moines register. here is what he said on witness. >> i think i've said time and again, i'm a pro life candidate, i'll be a pro life president. the actions i'll take immediately are to removed funding for planned parenthood. it will not be part of my budget. >> will he or won't he? will there be legislation on abortion.

how do you think that will play out for him? >> i think there are two different things, i think the operative word in the question he got asked is will you pursue legislation. frankly he shouldn't be pursuing legislation. he should be pursuing legislation to figure out how to fix this economy, is the first thing he should be doing. >> i do think, though, you either stand for something or you don't. people -- if the president comes out and says i'm for something, you expect him to pursue policies that are consistent with that. i think this is really a case of him having it both ways on the choice issue. >> the point is there's nothing to do with legislation, things like doing international funding for abortions which he says he won't do. >> you agree that it is confusing to people when you say one moment that you're not going to pursue any policies that are restrictive of abortion and on the next day you say i'm pro life, right? it is confusing to people. >> no. by the way, i am very glad he's

doing this, as a republican. >> i'm sure you're glad because it's moderate mitt and you're a moderate person. >> we'll leave it here and have you back in the 6:00 hour. you can continue this discussion. thank you very much. john, at the top of the hour we'll talk with bret o'donnell, a veteran president debate coach credited with helping romney win his florida primary debate. be sure to tune in tonight. cnn's coverage of the vice presidential debate begins at 7:00 p.m. on cnn and cnn.com. mitt romney has agreed to stop telling the story of the day he met former navy s.e.a.l. glen doherty. he was killed last month in the attack on the consulate in benghazi. mitt romney has been telling the story about how they met on the campaign trail. >> i just learned a few days ago

that he was one of the two former navy s.e.a.l.s killed in benghazi, and it broke my heart. >> now doherty's mother is accusing romney of politicizing her son's death. barbara doherty's daughter kate telling cnn's erin burnett says her mother thinks it's time for our political leaders to rethink priorities. >> being an american hero can be completely buy partisan. everyone wants to point fingers and play the blame game. let's blame the terrorists because that's whose at fault and that's where we should be focusing our energies. >> romney says out of respect for the family he will no longer tell the story of how he met her son. president obama has nominated general john allen the top u.s. commander in afghanistan to become the next nato supreme allied commander. taking his place in afghanistan

woeb marine corps general joseph dunn fort. one of two sea lions tangled in debris at a san francisco pier have been rescued. both have what appears to be fishing line wrapped around their necks. a veterinarian will try to remove the debris t. second sea lion was spooked by a tour boat and disappeared into the water. hopefully they're okay. we have an amazing story we're following here. outrage around the world after the taliban shoots a teenager who wanted gilrls education and peace. ahn date straight ahead. by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives...

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welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. this morning anger in the streets of pakistan in newspapers and on the air waves over the taliban's targeting shooting of 14-year-old malala

you saf is a. surgeons worked for three hours to remove a bullet lodged in her neck. taliban gunmen targeted her tuesday for her social media activism and support of education for girls and women. condemnation of the attack and support for malala coming from as far away and the united nations and washington. >> she was attacked and shot by extremists who don't want girls to have an education and don't want girls to speak for themselves and don't want girls to become leaders, who are for a variety of reasons threatened by that kind of empowerment. >> race sesay yeah interviewed malala last year. he joins us live from islamabad. we're getting word she's being moved to another hospital. how is she doing this morning?

>> reporter: it looks like her condition has deteriorated. we want to be careful in reporting this because we don't know all the details. yesterday her condition seemed to be improving. overnight the doctors said there was swelling in the brain, a condition called edema. she is in critical condition, being transported to a hospital right outside islamabad, a better facility. very touch and go for her. >> her story has touched the heart of so many people all around the world. can you tell us more, reza about how why the taliban targeted her and really how they got to her? >> reporter: well, they targeted her because they viewed her as a threat. remarkably, this 14-year-old went on a personal campaign to speak out against the taliban. this was a girl who was part child and part ferocious human rights activist. the best way to understand why she inspired so many people was to just sit down and listen to her speak. we got a chance to interview her late last year, and here she is.

>> so why do you risk your voice to raise your voice? >> because i feel my people need me and i shall raise my voice because if i didn't raise my voice now, when will i raise my voice. >> some people say you're 14, you don't have any rights, you just have to listen to mom and dad. >> i have rights. i have the right to education. i have the right to play, to sing, to talk, to go to market. i have the right to speak up. >> what if you give that advice to a girl who may not be as courageous as you and she says malala, i'm afraid, i just want to stay in my room? >> i tell her don't stay in your room because god will ask you on the day of judgment where were you when your people were asking you, when your school fellows were asking you and when your school was asking you that i am being blown up, when your people need you, you should come up and

stand up for their rights. >> if you were the president of this country, how would you handle the taliban? >> first of all, i would like to build so many schools in this country because education is the must thing. if you don't have educated people, the taliban will come to your area. but if you have educated people, they will not come. >> we put some tough questions to this young girl. she never backed down. in fact, she made us back down. a remarkable girl who is fighting for her life. >> to hear her voice this morning is both inspiring and heartbreaking all at once especially with the news you gave us that she is in critical condition. reza ayaeh. thank you for joining us. >> there are neurologists around the world waiting to help out. this is a story that has touched on everybody. i was reading a story who said the taliban said they'll get her

the next time if she survives. coming up, a youth football coach who crossed the line literally. that incident caught on camera. if you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us any time on your desk top or mobile phone go to cnn.com/tv. after working on the computer all day, you'd think i want to stay away from it at night. truth is, i like to stay connected with friends. but all that screen time can really dry me out. so i use visine. aah. it revives me, so i can get poked, winked, and -- ooh -- party all night long. only visine has hydroblend -- a unique blend of three moisturizers

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it is 49 minutes after the hour. let's get you up to date. christine romans with this morning's top stories. >> good morning again, you two. live pictures from center

college in danville, kentucky where there's something happening tonight. the vice presidential debate taking place there. vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan will square off in their one and only debate at 9:00 p.m. tonight. both are lowering expectations. ryan says biden has been on the big stage many times before. this is all new to him. he says he's not intimidated, he's excited. stay tuned for complete coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and cnn.com. a vol material football coach faces criminal charges for knocking out a 13-year-old player. you can see coach nate harris taking out the opposing team's running back along the sidelines. the hit was so hard the young man suffered a concussion. harris was eject friday the game and then arrested and charged with second degree felony child abuse. what color car do you drive, folks? this just in. drivers are boring. a new survey finds that the

color white is the top car color choice of the u.s. and around the world one in five drivers choosing white. while about 19% go for black, followed by silver and gray. you are unique if you have a green car, only one in 50 drivers chooses a green ride. >> we're all judging you, by the way, if you're driving a green car. seriously. who drives a green car? >> since when is white boring? i think it's nice. >> is yours white? >> no, blue. >> silver-gray, boring, but the shoe fits. 51 minutes after the hour. good thing tonight's debate is indoors because it is cold in kentucky among other places. rob marciano in with a weather update. >> a black car in the winter time when you get a little sun. that heats it up a little more. >> it gets really dirty. >> the salt gets all on it. >> that's true. the vanity just continues to come through. you're all worried about your clean car. good morning. we have a little snow trying to

fall across parts of upstate new york. it's really just rain. snow falling across the u.p. of michigan. black does get awfully dirty when the snow drops and the sand and salt trucks come out. 30 degrees in cincinnati. lincecum brought the ice last night. incredible postseason happening in major league baseball. freeze warnings for the ohio river valley, frost advisories for much of the tennessee valley. also a storm out west in california, showers and thunderstorms there. two of these will combine and there will be a threat for severe thunderstorms, not only today but more so on saturday. that may affect some football but also some football in the college ranks on saturday. >> look at the bob si twins this morning. >> we laich when you whisper to us. >> brings you closer. >> it does. it does. a packed hour ahead on "erly

start" including the tale of the tape. the attack dogs attack tonight in kentucky. what can we expect? we're talking to presidential debate adviser bret o'donnell who has worked with both mitt romney and john mccain. smackdown, wwe superstar slaps a fan. is this work? is it real? we'll show you and you make the call. plus passing johnny june nye tis and passing his way into the history books. saints quarterback drew brees is here live to talk about making nfl history last week and how he's trying to get kids to run a few playtion and tackle childhood obesity. i like this guy. >> man, are we looking forward to that. first, democrats, republicans and then there's the pizza party. a pizza chain dares voters to ask one question during next week's presidential debate. they'll put up one big prize. stay tuned.

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welcome back, 56 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with john berman. we're taking a look at what is trending. >> we can't wait to see what's trending. lohan drama on long island. "people" magazine reports police were called to lindsay lohan's childhood home after a fight between lindsay and her mother dina. tmz obtained aut audio of a frantic phone call for help in which she says, dad, she's on cocaine. referring to her mother. here is part of that phone call. >> she said disgusting things to me.

>> she's horrible, lindsey. >> she just said i'm dead to her, i'm dead to her. and i have a gash on my leg from what happened. >> mom put a gash on your leg? that's ridiculous. >> she's like [ bleep ] devil right now. >> that is today's update from the lohan drama file. >> the stakes just got higher for next week's presidental debate. how about free pizza? pizza hut is offering a promotion offering one large pie a week for 30 years or a check for $15,000 to anyone who asks the questions one big candidate during the town hall-style debate on tuesday, what's your favorite pizza topping? it's not likely anyone will get a shot to ask that in knees tightly controlled set tipgs. many people say it's in bad taste and not in the candidate's interest. >> the late night talk shows

have plenty to say. >> tomorrow night joe biden and paul ryan will be facing off in the vice presidential debates. actually, the white house a little worried. in fact, biden's handlers are telling him, whatever you do, don't be yourself. be anybody else. >> the vice presidents are debating tomorrow night. it's going to be joe biden, vice president joe biden and paul ryan debating. they're both going to try to appeal to the working class, and i laugh. i enjoyed that when i said, america still has a working class? i don't think so. everybody is gone. >> this is nice. this week the obama's dog bo turned 4 years old. he spent the day, as he always does, digging holes, chasing squirrels and coaching obama for the debates. >> election watchers are always

poised this late in the campaign season for what they refer to as an october surprise. it appears that time is upon us as evidenced by the recent presidential debate where barack obama unveiled his explosive october surprise, that he has given up! given up. surprise! >> proof that the obama team wants a different story coming out of tonight. >> "early start" continues right now. no sideshow, not anymore if high stakes as the two candidates for vice president get ready to take the stage for tonight's debate. we will take you inside. >> and against all odds. rescuers on the scene of a deadly parking garage collapse find a man alive in all of that rubble. october excitement. oh, man. not one, but two fantastic finishes have baseball fans buzzing from new york to california. >> you want to talk about it

right now? >> oh, man, these were fantastic endings. you'll have to stay tuned to see. good morning. welcome to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> that's right. most people were sleeping. >> such incredible finishes. >> it is good. stay tuned for it. i'm zoraida sambolin. 6:00 a.m. in the east. up first here, 15 hours and counting now until the kentucky showdown between joe biden and paul ryan. the running mates will face off on issues foreign and domestic in their only debate of the presidential campaign. biden's goal, stop the bleeding from president obama's poor debate showing. ryan will try to keep romney's mittmentum going. dark there in kentucky, we hear, a little cold. so the new polls are out. is it a little good news for mitt romney? >> reporter: yeah, it is. it's continuing this trend we've seen over the last couple of days and that's what makes this debate so important. there is some momentum for mitt romney coming out of that first

debate. we've seen a bounce in the national polls and in those crucial swing states. take a look at these. you mentioned these from "wall street journal" and marist, just out in the last few hours. let's look in virginia, where it's dead even. mitt romney at 48%, barack obama, 47%. that's a slight switch from a week ago. let's move on to florida. same story, pretty much. look at the president, 48%, mitt romney, 47%. that's about as close as you can get. it was just as close a week ago. and in ohio, the president still has an advantage there, but it is a little bit tighter than it was a week ago before the denver debate. how do americans feel about the two guys we'll meet tonight from this debate? look at this from pew? this is a favorability from vice president joe biden. as for congressman ryan, it seems like americans kind of divided on him, but few have a more favorable opinion than not. but because of the president's lackluster performance in

denver, there's more at stake tonight here in danville, kentucky. >> and both our running mates have made a point to lower expectations. i saw this morning that mitt romney has said that paul ryan has not debated since high school. >> reporter: yeah. well, he was a little off on that. paul ryan has debated a few times over the years. remember, he's run for congress seven times now and won seven times. but you're right, it's not just the campaigns that are lowering expectations, it's the candidates themselves. take a listen to paul ryan talking about our dana bash. >> joe biden has been doing this for a long time. he ran for president twice, he's a sitting vice president, he's been on this big stage many times before. so that's new for me. so i'm doing my homework and studying the issues. i mean, i know how he'll come and attack us. the problem he has is he has barack obama's record he has to run on. >> are you intimidated at all, based on the background that you just described? >> no, i'm not intimidated, i'm actually excited about it. >> reporter: take a look at this. a live picture inside the debate hall. and you can see, they're going

to be sitting, both joe biden and paul ryan will be sitting with martha rattas, the moderator. that may be make it a little tougher to go on the attack when you are sitting at a table next to your opponent. >> well, you are so excited. i cannot wait to talk to you after the debate. thank you so much, paul. >> paul practically jumping through the screen. i want to bring in debate adviser, brett o'donnell. i want to ask you this. vice president joe biden, known as something of a gaffe monster. what are the expectations for him? what can he reasonably hope to accomplish tonight? >> well, you know, i think the pressure is really on vice president biden, because there's a lot of downside and not much upside for him. the narrative coming out of the last debate was that president obama wasn't very good. but, you know, vice president biden has to try and blunt that momentum and turn the narrative around. and i think that's a hard task

when you're not the principle. but, if he makes a significant mistake, that can set the campaign back even further. >> i do think, brett, you can make the case that vice president joe biden's passion is exactly the kind of thing that particularly democratic voters want to see. so maybe we can't overlook that. >> no, i think he definitely has the passion to turn in a great performance. he's done two sets of presidential primary debates and he's been on this stage before. so he's got the experience. the problem for him might be, you know, if he goes out and really attacks, it may even call attention to the president's weakness last week or it presents the opportunity for him to make a serious mistake. >> and what about paul ryan? what does he need to do? what does he need to be careful about? >> well, he's got to make sure the debate stays about the president's policies on the economy and he also has to make sure that the debate stays more

about the romney vision, rather than the ryan plan. if he gets caught in a debate about the ryan plan, then he'll be more likely to be on defense. and i think he's got to defend the romney vision as opposed to defending the ryan plan. >> and bret, you just said he wants to keep this on economic issues. and social issues have once again that reared their head in this campaign, because of some answers, conflicting answers that mitt romney has given on abortion. listen to what he said a couple of days ago to the "des moines register". >> do you intend to pursue any legislations, specifically regarding abortion? >> i don't -- there's no legislation with regards to abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. >> and then he seemed to clean it up yesterday on the trail. listen to this. >> i think i said time and again, i'm a pro-life candidate. i'll be a pro-life president. the actions i'll take immediately are to remove

funding for planned parenthood. will not be part of my budget. and also i've indicated i'll reverse the mexico city position of the president. i'll reinstate the mexico city policy, which prevents us using foreign aid for abortions overseas. >> all right, bret, a two-part question here. does this put social issues back on the table for tonight's debate? and the second part of that question, do you expect the democrats to seize on the flip-flop label here? because we seem to see two positions in two days here from mitt romney. >> well, you know, it may put social issues back on the table. it depends what martha does in the debate tonight. i'm not sure this is an issue that the democrats -- you know, it may put the women's issue back on the table in terms of their war on women that they have been litigating earlier in the campaign. so they may use it again as a wedge issue. but this election is about jobs and the economy. and i think as long as congressman ryan focusing on that tonight, he'll be able to litigate a debate he wants to.

if joe biden is able to put that issue back on the table, then it might put congressman ryan on his heels. >> all right. bret o'donnell, there is no one better to talk to on debate days than you. thank you so much for being with us today. we will have more debate pre-game at the bottom of the hour with ana navarro and richard socarides. and stay with cnn for complete coverage of the vice presidential debate starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and on cnn.com. it is eight minutes past the hour. listen to this. a man who was trapped under a huge slab of concrete for 13 hours was pulled from the rubble alive. this is really early this morning. at the site of a parking garage collapse in florida that left three workers dead. the five-story garage was under construction when the structure gave way late yesterday morning. there were dozens of workers inside at the time. miami-dade fire rescue says eight others were taken to area hospitals for treatment. as the death toll in the

fungal meningitis outbreak rises, calls for more oversight now. at least two lawmakers are introducing bills to strengthen the fda's oversight of compounding pharmacies, including ecc, the one that is linked to this particular outbreak, which shares property with a garbage dump. a total of 12 people have died. at least 137 infected across 11 states. the hardest hit, tennessee, michigan, and virginia. all right. sports fans, wake up, because not one, two fantastic finishes in baseball divisional playoffs late, late-night finishes. first, that's the yankees' raul banez hitting a walk off homer, but three innings before, ibanez hit one to tie the game after he was put in to pinch hit for alex rodriguez. he pinch hit for alex rodriguez. the yanks now lead that series, two games to one. game four is tonight.

wow. meantime, double wow in oakland. the oakland a's facing elimination got a walk off hit from coco crisp, the best name in baseball. that capped a two-run, ninth inning comeback against the tigers. they were on the verge of elimination, but now they forced a fifth and deciding game in that series tonight in oakland. my friend mc hammer is thrilled about that. >> you know, my former neighbors in detroit win love them to death, but i at nom rooting for the detroit tigers. so stop bullying me on facebook and twitter, because i'm not rooting for them. oakland a's. ahead on "early start," trying to find out once and for all, what happened. >> it was a terrorist attack. let's be honest about it. >> a tense hearing on capitol hill about the attack that killed two star diplomats and two retired s.e.a.l.s in libya. are which version is the right one?

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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. welcome back to "early start." it is 13 minutes past the hour. over the past few weeks, we've gotten a lot of answers to a single question. what happened in libya? now the house the trying to get to the bottom of it, but politics may be getting in the way. for the better part of four hours yesterday, republicans questioned the motives of the white house and slammed the administration for the lack of security at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. democrats responded by calling out house republicans for cutting security funding and turning a tragedy into a political side show. >> and i am fascinated to know, and understand, from the president of the united states, from the secretary of state and from the ambassador to the united nations, how they can justify that this video caused this attack.

it was a terrorist attack. let's be honest about it. >> i certainly hope that today's hearing is not going to be perceived as an effort to exploit a tragedy for political purposes 27 days out from an election. >> cnn foreign affairs reporter elise labott live from washington for us this morning. nice to see you, elise. so what was accomplished and where do we go from here? >> well, what was accomplished? good question, zoraida. a lot of people thought that this hearing looked -- resembled more "l.a. law" then it did a hearing and an investigation into finding out what happened, and more importantly, preventing it from happening again. there was a lot of political grandstanding, a lot of republicans cutting off witnesses from the state department, not letting them answer. kind of very lawyerly in a sense. but there were some important things that came out about whether the consulate was adequately protected. eric nordstrom, the top security official in libya spoke very

candidly about some of the problems he was having getting the resources he needed to protect u.s. personnel in libya. let's take a listen to what he said. >> one of the frustrating things that i found early on, and as i mentioned in my testimony, i was extremely pleased with the planning to get us into libya. the frustrating thing that i found is once the first teams and the first tdyers started to expire at 60 days, there was a complete and total absence of planning that i saw in terms of what we were supposed to do from that point on. and i requested assets, instead of supporting those assets, i was criticized. and somehow it was my responsibility to come up with a plan on the ground and not the responsibility for ds. i raised that specific point in a meeting with the ds director in march. that 60 days there was no plan

and it was hope that everything would get better. >> and zoraida, nordstrom went on to say, even as his resources were being denied, his danger pay for being inned a hardship post was going up, so that was giving him the message that the embassy and the consulate wasn't going to get adequate resources until there was an attack on one of the facilities. and he asked, how thin does the ice have to be before someone falls through, zoraida? >> so elise, what happens next? >> well, what's going to happen with this committee, i don't know. i think a lot of people feel that the committee isn't necessarily interested in finding specific answers and recommendations, but maybe a lot of politics on both sides. but there are other investigations that are going on. the fbi is having an investigation, more of a criminal investigation into who's responsible. state department, also, secretary clinton, has appointed an independent investigation with a real high-level panel to find out what happened and make

recommendations, most importantly, how to prevent this from happening again, zoraida. >> at the end of the day, that is the most important thing. thank you so much. elise labott, live in washington for us. >> it is 17 minutes after the hour. we want to get you up to speed on all the top stories. here's christine romans with that. >> thanks, you two. the election is now 26 days away. the next big event, of course, the presidential campaign is on tap tonight in danville, kentucky. the next big event of the campaign. joe biden and paul ryan will square off in the first and only presidential debate. biden's expected to be in attack mode as he tries to make america forget about president obama's forgettable deba performance against mitt romney last week. cnn's coverage of the vice presidential debate begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn and cnn.com. wwe star c.m. punk now saying he's sorry for this. >> he backhanded and then punched a fan he thought smacked him in the head on live tv. the problem is, if you look

closely, he hit the wrong guy. wwe fan joel rappasack sent us video of the spontaneous smackdown. the wwe saying security should have been there to make sure fans were safe. the fan filed a report with the sheriff's office, but didn't want to press charges. >> you always ask in pro wrestling, is that real or fake? i bet it felt really real when he got smacked by the wrestling star. >> former wwe pro rob marciano has the forecast. >> well, you know, here in the ww -- okay, i don't have a ton of time here. freeze warnings out right now for temps obviously below the freezing mark. another shot of cool air will be coming down from canada. actually will team up with a little storm system, unusual for this time of year, coming through california.

and that will give us a threat for seeing not only that cool shot, but severe weather on saturday. maybe damaging winds and hail and tornadoes here across the midsection of the country. by the way, the cool shot for the northeast, kind of hangs with us, again, reinforcing shot tomorrow and saturday, but then warming up as we get towards sunday. don't make me get on the top row. i will destroy you. >> all right, rob. rob marciano in atlanta. that was awesome. >> it was. coming up, mitt romney's plan for medicare. three critical questions still unanswered. we will ask them all when we come back.

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all right. minding your business this morning, the vice presidential debate is tonight, in case you haven't heard. and medicare is bound to come up. there are still some pretty big questions about governor mitt romney's medicare plan. >> so christine is breaking down what we do know and what we don't know. >> i think this will come up tonight. so governor romney's medicare plan is unclear on three issues critical to the 47 million people on medicare and the rest of us who may rely on it when we get older. a reminder, the number of people on medicare is expected to jump to 62 million by the year 2020 and up to 90 million by the year 2050. the first unclear point of romney's plan, the cost to seniors. and this only applies to future retirees, although he hasn't given a specific age. his plan offers seniors two

options, one, a premium support system or a voucher for each senior to buy private insurance from competing providers. the other option, traditional medicare. what we don't know is whether the voucher will be enough to cover the cost of the traditional medicare option for people who want to stay in it. the romney campaign has not clarified that yet. second question, the prescription drug plan. romney says older americans have nothing to worry about. >> neither the president nor i are proposing any changing for any current retirees or near retirees, either to social security or medicare. >> but there is one big thing that he says will change. >> if i'm elected, we won't have obama care. >> so obama care or the affordable care act saved seniors more than $600 on average last year as part of the governor's prescription drug plan. and the president says those savings would disappear under romney's plan. >> what happens is, those

seniors, right away, are going to be paying over $600 more in prescription care. >> romney's campaign is yet to have specifics on how it would deal with that for seniors if he were to repeal obama care. finally, romney hasn't said if he'll put a cap on medicare spending. and experts tell us a cap is needed to promote competition and keep cost increases under control. plus, bipartisan groups like the congressional budget office, they won't give romney's plan a score without one. we don't have a score without that question being answered. romney's running mate, paul ryan's own budget plan he proposed in congress includes a medicare spending cap. but romney isn't aligning himself with that. we're going to see if it comes up in tonight's vp debate, lang with answers to some of these other big questions. >> one of the thing biden is sure to do is try to bring up the romney plan and juxtapose it with the ryan plan. >> but he'll dodge it. he'll say, the boss is mitt romney. i'm not the boss. i'll defer to the boss.

>> what is the one thing we need to know about our money? >> more evidence that the housing market is healing and this is something you feel immediately. foreclosures are slowing. realtytrac tells us that foreclosures are now at five-year lows. >> ending on a positive note if thank you very much. ahead on "early start," things get ugly at a youth football game in california. the coaches come to blows. it is all captured on video. you'll want to see it. stay with us. [ gasps ] these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries)

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last-minute cramming in kentucky. joe biden and paul ryan getting ready for their one and only debate tonight. we're breaking down what you can expect. 200 pages, 26 witnesses, including once-loyal teammates. all detailing how lance armstrong cheated. the most damning evidence yet against the cycling legend. and who dat?

it's drew brees, the saints' record-setting quarterback. and guess what? he is joining us live. welcome back to "early start." thank you for being with us this morning. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. very excited for drew brees, it's 30 minutes past the hour. but first, very excited about this. every minute that passes this morning brings us one minute closer to that one and only vice presidential debate. inside the auditorium in danville, kentucky, vice president joe biden will meet his republican rival, congressman paul ryan. all eyes are on this one after it was seen as a tough night for president obama in the first debate. the president now admitting he had, quote, a bad night. we have some brand-spanking-new battleground poll numbers to look at. mitt romney now pulling ahead by a point in virginia according to a nbc/"wall street journal"/marist model, but another poll shows obama still ahead there. and romney gaining two points in ohio, but the president's lead still a little more comfortable

there. we have so much to talk about this morning, especially the debate. i'm joined now by ana navarro, a republican strategist and cnn contributor, and richard socarides, former adviser to president bill clinton. a political dynamic duo right here in the studio with us this morning. and i want to start, of course, with this debate tonight. paul ryan against vice president joe biden. and the vice president is known for a lot of things, that are satired quite frequently on the late-night show. i want to play one bite from "saturday night live" before we kick off our discussion here. let's watch. >> is there anything more exciting than joe biden thinking it's up to him to get the lead back? it's tivo time! >> so richard -- >> that wasn't that funny. >> is there something to that? joe biden known for the gaffes, but he has to have a big night tonight. >> i think what he has to do and what he could do for all democrats and for president obama is change the narrative here and get the momentum back.

i mean, clearly, governor romney had a great performance last week and the momentum is with them now. the poll numbers show that. so the vice president can alter that narrative with a good performance tonight. and i think he'll do that. >> the president himself has said, one of the things he wants to do is let joe be joe. and joe, the vice president, is known for many things. one of them is passion. and i do get the sense that democratic loyalists want to see that. isn't that an advantage for him tonight, ana? >> you know, you were speaking with bret o'donnell right beforehand, and i think he's the best republican debate coach we have. and he brought up a very good point. which is really joe biden's got to walk a very fine line. he can't really overshadow and blow out what barack obama did, you know, ten days ago. but on the other hand, he's got to perform and he's got to perform better. and i'll tell you something else. i got a feeling this might be a

2016 tryout for my friend, joe biden. i think you're going to see joe biden competing in a democrat primary in four years. and i think this is his chance to shine. but i do agree with the comments. i think the only thing that might be more concerning than an overly passive barack obama is an overly aggressive joe biden. >> one of the things that was not mentioned hardly at all in the first debate, social issues. and i think we can assume they will play a bigger role tonight, especially because the abortion issue has come back into play this week with some statements that mitt romney made, conflicting statements. i want to listen to these again. first to the "des moines register." let's listen. >> do you intend to pursue any legislations, specifically regarding abortion? >> i don't -- there's no legislation regarding -- with regards to abortion that i'm familiar, that would become part of my agenda. >> and then he seemed to go back on that yesterday on the campaign trail. >> i think i said time and again, i'm a pro-life candidate.

i'll be a pro-life president. the actions i'll take immediately are to remove funding for planned parenthood. it will not be part of my budget. >> is this an opportunity for the democrats? an opportunity for joe biden tonight, richard? >> i think it is. and i think you'll see a lot of discussion about these issues tonight. i mean, governor romney was for cutting taxes on the rich and then not, and then he was for ending obama care, and then he was not exactly for ending obama care. yesterday, we saw almost, you know, just within 24 hours, he was not for restrictions on abortion and then he was. so, believe me, joe biden's going to hit that very hard tonight. >> ana, last word. this seems to be a big change in the course of 24 hours. >> you know what, i welcome it. i think the average american is frankly more aware of mitt

romney right now. and i think there is knowing consistency here. i welcome his shift. i wonder why it took him so long. and i do think that it is the national shift to a general election. and i'm okay with it. you know, as president obama has shifted on many issues. we could say some, you know, very recently during the elections, like his evolution on gay rights. when president obama does it, it's an evolution. when mitt romney does it, it's a flip-flop. >> you heard it here. >> when mitt romney did it this time, it was in the course of about 20 hours. >> so it took president obama seven years. >> we'll have to leave it there and we'll leave it to joe biden to finish this discussion tonight. ana navarro, cnn contributor, and richard socarides, political adviser to bill clinton, thank you so much for joining me this morning. and cnn's coverage of the vice presidential debate begins at 7:00 eastern here on cnn and on cnn.com. a youth football game in northern california ends with the coaches throwing punches at each other. the brawl, right in front of the players. the parents, cheerleaders, was

captured on video. it was posted on youtube by a player's stepmom, who commented that they weren't being good role models. it's not clear whether they will be punished. so ahead on "early start," he just broke the nfl record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass 48 straight. we'll talk live with new orleans quarterback drew brees about the record and his work with nfl kids, getting kids up and playing. [ phil ] i have a toyota camry hybrid.

[ man ] tell me about that. [ phil ] katie and i talked about really committing to making a difference in the amount of gas that we use. she was using 8 to 10 tankfuls. i was using 5 tankfuls. now i use one tankful a month, and she may use about two. it drives like a sports car. it handles very well. people are a little surprised that a hybrid zipped by them the way that i do. [ male announcer ] see phil's story and more at the camry effect. camry from toyota. [ male announcer ] see phil's story and more at the camry effect. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this.

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a surprise special guest. soledad o'brien join us with a look at what's ahead on "starting point." >> i head on "starting point" this morning, we are, of course,

going to talk about if vice presidential showdown. folks trying to figure out how it's going to go tonight. will it be attack? will it be a night of gaffes? will it be stumbling or mumbling? or will it be hard-core fighting between the two? we'll look at that this morning and talk to newark's mayor, cory booker. david axelrod from the obama campaign. and senior adviser and former congressman, reid ribble will join us as well. and also, as former teammates have turned on him, we're looking at the shocking new report from the anti-u.s. doping agency about lance armstrong and the doping scandal there. we'll tell you what armstrong's attorney is now saying, straight ahead. and tackled on the field. a player taken down. you guys were just talking about this a moment ago. it happened -- tackled by the coach of the other team. insane. it's going to be our "get real," of course, because, really, come on. >> get real! >> i'm so mad. as a parent, i'm like, come on,

people! that's all ahead. >> we're wondering if it's happening more or people are just videotaping it more than they used to. >> both, i think. 41 minutes past the hour. a man who was trapped under a huge slab of concrete for 13 hours was pulled from the rubble. he is alive. early this morning at the site of a parking garage collapse in florida, it left three workers dead. the five-story garage was under construction when the structure gave way let yesterday morning. there were dozens of workers inside at the time. miami-dade fire rescue says eight others were taken to area hospitals for treatment. all right, sports fans. you'll want to wake up for this. it was walk-off wednesday in the american league divisional playoffs. first, yankees' raul ibanez hits a game-winning 12th inning home run, took the a's two games to one. it was ibanez's second dramatic homer of the night. he hit one in the ninth to tie the game up and that was pinch hitting for alex rodriguez.

true story. then the oakland a's, they worked their magic last night, coming from two runs down in the ninth inning. they won on a walk-off single by coco crisp. you know, they were down to one out in the ninth, down two runs. an amazing comeback to bring this series to a fifth game. all right. 42 minutes past the hour. the football from sunday's record-breaking throw by new orleans saints' quarterback drew brees is now on display at the pro football hall of fame in canton, ohio. brees joins us now from new orleans to talk about his record-breaking pass as well as some great work to talk about the play 60 program, which encourages kids to get out and play. drew brees, welcome this morning. first off, congratulations. >> thank you very much. how are y'all doing?

>> we're doing great. probably not as well as you this morning. i can probably say that most mornings. i have to say, you put that ball up in the air in the game, and it's in the air, do you think while it's floating, this is it, i'm breaking the record on this one? >> you know what, honestly, things happen so fast during the course of the game, you don't even have time to think, you just react. but that was actually a play call that we had discussed all week long as being, hey, if we call this in the right situation, it's a guaranteed touchdown, and sure enough, we called it at the right situation and it was a guaranteed touchdown. so as soon as it left my hand, i knew, i knew we had skoefred. >> that's got to be some feeling, particularly because people, a lot of people are rightfully calling this not just historic, but incredibly historic. "sports illustrated" wrote this, "breaking any record set by unitas is monumental, but this one is particularly big. if you're throwing a touchdown pass in 48 straight games, you're consistently excellent. that's why i'm more impressed with this streak than anything

else brees has done. he broke a record that lasted for 52 years." has this sunk in yet? is this going to be a career-defining moment. >> i'm not sure it's sunk in yet. it was exciting to be a part of that, and then win the game on sunday night football in the superdome. but it's one of those records that's ongoing. you know, every game that we're able to continue to throw a touchdown pass, the records extends. so i think for us, you think about just winning games, you think about your preparation throughout the week, and execution, and that sort of thing. and if we continue to build the record, so be it. but just to have been a part of this run and to have eclipsed the record the way that we did on sunday was an incredible feeling. >> you asked the nfl to give permission for sean payton, joe vitt, and general manager mickey loomis to be in attendance. why was that so important to you? >> because those three men are says instrumental in, i think, the success of our team as

anyone. and certainly they've helped build the foundation of what we've been able to create here in new orleans. and there was so many people that were a huge part of that record that really extended over the course of four years. you know, that started back in 2009, so there's really four seasons, four teams that were a part of that record, and certainly those three men were a huge part of it and i felt it very appropriate that they be in the stadium to be a part of that historic night. >> i want to talk a little bit about this program that you support. the nfl launched the play 60 program back in 2007 as a campaigning to fight childhood obesity. so now they've upped the challenge for kids and have teamed up with xbox, which i think is brilliant, with the 60 million minutes challenge. so tell us a little bit about that program. >> well, right. so to repeat what you said, kinect for xbox 360 has partnered up with nfl 360 to create the 60 million minutes challenge. which basically the goal is to

recruit 1 million kids to pledge to get active for 60 minutes a day, thus providing 60 million minutes of active play per day to fight childhood obesity. it's an unbelievable program. kids can actually go online to the xbox facebook page, or to the 60 million minutes app, or to the xbox live to pledge to be active for 60 minutes a day, and they'll win the opportunity to get a social autograph from myself or other nfl players, actually all on their facebook wall, that they can share with family and friends. but kinect for xbox 360 has actually been added to, you know, that realm of opportunities to get great exercise. the whole virtual gaming industry, the fact that you can sit in your living room and actually be interactive with a game, constitutes 60 minutes of exercise. another great way for kids to get active. >> i know a lot of kids who would like that social autograph, a lot of kids who are

about 40 years old or so. >> kids of all ages. kids of all ages. >> that's a good point. >> we're all kids at heart. thank you. all right. teammates turning on lance armstrong in what could be a damning report that calls him a serial cheat. a man who chronicled armstrong's cycling comeback weighs in. that's coming up next. i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity.

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welcome back. 51 minutes past the hour. lance armstrong apparently spent the night hanging with his family after the u.s. anti-doping agency went public with a 1,000-page report, trying to end any doubt that he cheated. the seven-time tour de france winner is a hero to many for his triumph in the cycling world,

but the report summed up their findings by calling what they found, quote, the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen. the agency says armstrong, despite his repeated denials, doped throughout the majority of his professional cycling career. he's what armstrong's attorney told cnn's erin burnett last night. >> now, the united states anti-doping agency funded by u.s. tax dollars, spending millions of dollars, to go after armstrong. who is their target and who they've had a witch hunt in place since the mid-2000s. >> and joining us now is bill strickland. he's the editor at large of "bicycling" magazine and author of the book "tour de lance," which chronicled armstrong's 2009 return to the tour de france. thank you for being with us this morning. so what's new and different here

is all of his former teammates are coming forward now. so does this essentially end any doubt that he is a serial cheater, as he's being called? >> certainly it's a landslide. what's new here, there have always been teammates that have spoken out against him. but what's new here, six are unimpeachable. >> so george hincapie said, "early in my professional career, it became clear to me that given the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs by cyclists at top of the profession, it was not possible to compete at the highest level without them." >> in the reports, a 200-page report, george says that he witnessed lance taking drugs and cheating and distributing drugs as well. >> it also suggests that lance armstrong was the ringleader. that he essentially ran the

program. what do you know about that? >> it makes sense. he was the leader of the team. he led the team in every way in training and equipment and certainly if this were part of their program, he would have taken the lead. >> so what we're trying to understand is how he got away with it. the report says armstrong's wife helped, they had code words, and there was a man called moto man who would follow them on a motorcycle with drugs. how did they not get caught? >> they kept it very, very tight. >> so what happens next? >> what happens next? a lot of people are waiting to sigh if the criminal investigation will be reopened, which we don't know. it seems likely his jerseys will be stripped, but again, we still don't know that. and lance himself has 30, 40 million people who still believe in him. >> and especially with the cancer work he's done and the foundation, they seem to really support him still. >> there's no easy solution to this. >> bill strickland, thank you so

much for joining us, editor at large of "bicycling" magazine, author of "tour de lance." very nice of you to way in this morning. we appreciate it. so today's best advice from the one and only cyndi lauper. that's coming up. [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] [ laughing ] ♪ you'd think i want to stay away from it at night. truth is, i like to stay connected with friends. but all that screen time can really dry me out. so i use visine. aah. it revives me, so i can get poked, winked, and -- ooh -- party all night long. only visine has hydroblend -- a unique blend of three moisturizers that soothe, restore, and protect

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took hours to work or made me drowsy. after allegra, i have the only 24-hour medicine that's both fast and non-drowsy. after allegra, i have it all. it is 58 minutes past the hour. >> and as always, we wrap it up with best advice. >> we asked cyndi lauper, the grammy winner, who just wants to have fun, the best advice she ever received. listen. >> i think always to be aware of where you are and look around and notice the little things, that sometimes if the big things

aren't happening the way you want, notice the little things. they are. >> that's really sweet advice, isn't it? >> it's great advice. it's hard to do sometimes, but really great advice. >> in the midst of disappointment, try to find the little thing. >> we're all going to live that way today. >> i'm just going to have fun today. >> that's all for "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. our starting point this morning, showdowns between the number twos. vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan face off tonight in their only debate. will we see fireworks or will it flop? a tragic discovery. is a body found in the search for a missing 10-year-old girl from colorado. is it jessica ridgeway. and pulled from the rubble. a construction worker freed overnight 13 hours after a parking garage collapsed on him. and a throw into history. new orleans saints'